Damascus Throwing Hatchet, Olive Wood Handle, Raindrop Pattern

Throwing is repetition. You walk to the board, pull the axe out, walk back and do it again. The axe that keeps you at it sits the same in your hand every throw. This one is 16 inches overall, the head is Damascus over a high carbon core, and the handle is olive wood, so the grain on yours belongs to it alone.

Specification

The head

The steel is Damascus over a high carbon core, etched until the raindrop pattern lifts out. Rings inside rings, running down the cheek. The bevel is etched to the edge too, so the pattern carries out to the working part. The head is 5.5 inches long with a 3.5 inch cutting edge, a narrow bit for a head that size. Narrow steel parts wood rather than shoving it aside. Carbon sits under all that pattern. It greys as you use it, and it will spot with rust if you put it away wet.

The handle

Olive wood grows slowly and crooked, and the figure wanders. Dark streaks cross a pale ground and no two blanks read alike. It is dense and oily, heavy for its size, and takes a hard hit without going dead. The eye is wedged. The handle is driven up through the head from below, a wooden wedge spreads it against the steel from the top, and a steel wedge goes across that. At 16 inches there is room for one hand and length to time a rotation.

The leather head cover

The cover is vegetable tanned leather, cut to the outline of this head and stitched by hand. The face is stamped in a basket weave, worked into damp leather so it has depth. A welt is sewn into the edge to keep the stitching clear of the steel, and a snap strap holds it shut. It goes on dry. A cover over a wet bit traps water against the steel and you find rust later.

Who it suits

For the buyer who wants a piece nobody else has, and who takes the photograph as a guide to shape, not grain.

• Throwers who want one axe with no twin
• Buyers who like wood with figure in it
• Anyone giving an axe as a one of one gift
• People who want Damascus they will use

What comes in the box

• The Damascus throwing hatchet on olive wood
• The hand stitched leather head cover
• A care card
• Free sharpening for life on any piece sent back

Every piece is different

Olive wood is not a manufactured material. One blank comes out heavy with dark figure, the next runs pale and quiet, and the same finish reads differently. The etch shifts too, since the pattern lands where the steel moved. Yours will not match the picture. That is rather the point of buying one.

Looking after it

Wipe the head dry the moment you finish. Grease it with oil before it goes away for the season and put the cover on dry. Oil the handle with boiled linseed oil, three to five coats over as many days on a new one, then once a year. Never varnish it. Lay linseed rags flat outside to dry, since bunched up indoors they can catch fire on their own. More is on our care and sharpening page.

Put a name on it

Laser engraving is 20 dollars per piece and you add it on this page. Around 30 characters fits, so a name or a date. We send a proof image before the laser runs, and it adds 3 to 5 business days. It is free on orders of 10 or more, which suits a group buying together. Details are on the engraving page.

Questions buyers ask

Will mine look like the photograph? No. Olive wood figure changes from one blank to the next and the etch never repeats.

Can I see the one I am getting? Message us before you order and we will photograph what is on the bench.

How is the head held on? The eye is wedged. The handle goes up from below, a wooden wedge spreads it in the top, and a steel wedge crosses that.

Will it rust? It can. There is carbon steel under the pattern. Dry it after use and keep a film of oil on it.

Can I pound with the back of the head? No. The poll is not hardened for it.

How long does delivery take? Most US orders arrive in 5 to 7 business days.

For the same size in plain steel there is the hand forged throwing axe on an oak handle, and the same pattern on a longer head in the Damascus tomahawk with an ash handle. Short ones sit under throwing axes, pattern welded heads under Damascus axes, and the whole rack in axes and hatchets.